H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the January 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 365,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

H.B. Fuller Stock Performance

NYSE FUL opened at $59.03 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. H.B. Fuller has a 1 year low of $58.86 and a 1 year high of $87.67.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $923.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H.B. Fuller Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.2225 per share. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. H.B. Fuller’s payout ratio is 38.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FUL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Vertical Research downgraded shares of H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on H.B. Fuller from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on H.B. Fuller from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FUL. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of H.B. Fuller by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in H.B. Fuller by 731.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 127,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,630,000 after buying an additional 15,100 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth $465,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at $783,000. Institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

About H.B. Fuller

H.B. Fuller Company, together with its subsidiaries, formulates, manufactures, and markets adhesives, sealants, coatings, polymers, tapes, encapsulants, additives, and other specialty chemical products. It operates through three segments: Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives; Engineering Adhesives; and Construction Adhesives.